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My decision to play an Order of Scribes wizard was almost entirely for the rest of the party's reaction to my character talking to their dissertation notes and having it go from being a monologue to a dialogue.

Looking forward to Wizard Subclass Tier Rankings (Part 42,978)

Correction on the 1st Order of Scribes ability; it no longer halves the time and gold cost to put spells in your spell book, but instead changes the amount of time needed to copy a spell into your spell book to 2 minutes per level of the spell, meaning in theory you could write 3 9th level spells into your spell book over the course of a short rest. The UA version of the subclass had the halved time and gold cost, but they altered upon fully releasing it.

"Are wizards the best class in the game?" Well they're not called Fighters of the Coast now, are they.?

Updated tier list (regarding both The Dungeon Dudes and the users): S TIER - Path of the Totem Warrior (Barbarian) - College of Lore (Bard) - Life Domain (Cleric) - Circle of the Moon (Druid) - Battle Master (Fighter) - Echo Knight (Fighter) - Gloom Stalker Conclave (Ranger) - Divine Soul (Sorcerer) - The Hexblade (Warlock) - School of Divination (Wizard) A+ TIER - Armorer (Artificer) - Path of the Zealot (Barbarian) - Forge Domain (Cleric) - Tempest Domain (Cleric) - Oath of Vengeance (Paladin) - Arcane Trickster (Rogue) - Swashbuckler (Rogue) - The Fiend (Warlock) - Chronurgy Magic (Wizard) - Bladesinging (Wizard) A TIER - Artillerist (Artificer) - Battle Smith (Artificer) - Path of the Ancestral Guardian (Barbarian) - College of Eloquence (Bard) - Grave Domain (Cleric) - Light Domain (Cleric) - Circle of the Shepherd (Druid) - Eldritch Knight (Fighter) - Way of the Open Hand (Monk) - Way of Shadow (Monk) - Oath of the Ancients (Paladin) - Oath of Conquest (Paladin) - Oathbreaker (Paladin) - Beast Master Conclave (TCE) (Ranger) - Horizon Walker Conclave (Ranger) - Scout (Rogue) - Shadow Magic (Sorcerer) - School of Abjuration (Wizard) - School of Enchantment (Wizard) - Order of Scribes (Wizard) B+ TIER - Cavalier (Fighter) - Way of the Kensei (Monk) - Oath of Devotion (Paladin) - Oath of Redemption (Paladin) - Draconic Bloodline (Sorcerer) - Wild Magic (Sorcerer) - The Archfey (Warlock) - The Celestial (Warlock) - School of Evocation (Wizard) - School of Illusion (Wizard) - School of Necromancy (Wizard) B TIER - Alchemist (Artificer) - Path of the Storm Herald (Barbarian) - College of Glamour (Bard) - College of Valor (Bard) - Nature Domain (Cleric) - Order Domain (Cleric) - Trickery Domain (Cleric) - War Domain (Cleric) - Circle of the Land (Druid) - Circle of Dreams (Druid) - Champion (Fighter) - Samurai (Fighter) - Way of the Long Death (Monk) - Oath of Glory (Paladin) - Hunter Conclave (Ranger) - Assassin (Rogue) - Thief (Rogue) - Mastermind (Rogue) - The Great Old One (Warlock) - School of Conjuration (Wizard) C+ TIER - College of Swords (Bard) - College of Whispers (Bard) - Arcana Domain (Cleric) - Death Domain (Cleric) - Knowledge Domain (Cleric) - Circle of Spores (Druid) - Arcane Archer (Fighter) - Way of the Drunken Master (Monk) - Oath of the Crown (Paladin) - Monster Slayer Conclave (Ranger) - Inquisitive (Rogue) - Storm Sorcery (Sorcerer) - School of Transmutation (Wizard) - War Magic (Wizard) - Graviturgy Magic (Wizard) C TIER - Path of the Berserker (Barbarian) - Path of the Battlerager (Barbarian) - Way of the Sun Soul (Monk) D+ TIER - The Undying (Warlock) D TIER - Banneret/Purple Dragon Knight (Fighter) - Way of the Four Elements (Monk) - Beast Master Conclave (PHB) (Ranger)

I agree on Bladesinger: "A" when compared to other Wizard subclasses for trying to be a Wizard. I think it's "S" for trying to be the gish that everyone wanted Eldritch Knight to be (no spell restrictions, more spell slots etc.). It's in its own class in a lot of ways.

Correction, the 2nd point of Awakened Spellbook feature states that "The latter spell must be of the same level as the spell slot you expend." which means that if you cast Fireball with a 3rd level spell slot you cannot select Force or Psychic damage cause there is no spells of 3rd level that a wizard could obtain with those damage types, but if you upcast the same Fireball with 4th or 5th spell slot you could choose Psychic if you have Phantasmal Killer or Force if you have Bigby's Hand, respectively.

Order of the scribes is a high A or S for me. Currently playing one. And they are an amazing class, feel like the most wizard that could ever wizard.

I would like to request a "How to play a Bladesinger Wizard" Video. Since you already did such a Video for the Hexblade and the Eldritch Knight the Bladesinger would be the last one missing.

I would love to see the dudes make a poll on their channel's community tab about weather people would prefer hex blade or blade singer.

Hexblade capitalises the BLADE where Bladesinger is much more focused on elegant spell casting with melee flavour. Two very different styles of gish and both with their merits and weaknesses.

The Bladesinger conjures images of Gandalf in Return of the King. Really cool concept.

Kind of a super important oversight, the scribe wizard's quill as printed in Tasha's does not give a gold discount for transcribing spells and the copy time is reduced to 2 minutes/spell level. Not half gold and half copy time.

Bladesinging is the most fun I have had in DnD by far. Facetanking stuff with amazing AC while thunderwaving is just so much like the wizard from Diablo 3 it feels amazing!

18:38 "There's no 3rd level spell that does force damage." [Matt Mercer looks around guiltily, then slides Pulse Wave off the table while no-one is looking.]

The Scribe Wizard is able to put spells in their spell book at such a staggering speed, 60 times faster than normal, that sacrificing several levels of bad spells with their high level ability becomes very viable.

The thing I've found with Hexblades is that they do tend to be heavy hitters, usually using greatswords and glaives for high damage and spell slots are a sidenote. The Bladesinger presents quite an intriguing concept of an actual blade and magic combo, rather than magic used to maximize how hard to hit Quite intrigued by the versatility presented of a wizard that isn't hiding away at the back, and the wide range of options for wizard spells that can be used in two different ways!

I said that the bladesinger wasn’t the best wizard subclass on Reddit and it caused a small riot in my mentions. I’ll pray for you dungeon dudes.

What fun about Order of Scribes is that the damage types are only restricted by other spells you have, meaning you can use physical damage types if you so wish. Take Erupting Earth and Fireball, and you can turn Fireball into BOULDERBALL! it also works with Scorching Ray and Earthen Grasp to make Rock Rays! Also take the Crusher feat for added cromch!

Hello Dungeon Dudes, your subclass playlist does NOT have part 2 of your wizard subclass video. Hopefully you will see this comment and fix it. Love the videos!

Other fun thing to do as a scribe wizard: Misty step cast through the drone is an insane range extension. Same with Dimension Door. And you can’t be counterspelled when you use it to escape.

Actually the Scribes Wizard change of damage works based on the spell slot used, which means you can upcast for instance fireball, and because you have Flame Strike make a radiant fireball. It's a really interesting ability that comes in to spell selection.

When did Kelly become a whole, well balanced and hearty snack?

summon greater demon has a 90ft range so summoning a greater demon from 390 ft of distance is pretty cool and you don't have to worry about the save each turn as you won't be present anyways

I think that the Bladesinger indeed has the kneejerk reaction of being OP, but I think the Scribe Wizard actually has way more potential. It has so many ways in which it can break the game even without getting a lot of spells to scribe.

Tasha’s subclasses! And drakkenheim book hell yea!!!

If your campaign allows significant downtime, I believe the lower cost and time to create scrolls would boost this subclass into S tier when combined with the lower cost of inscribing spells into your book. The money savings could allow for a vast increase in spells in your book or non-attuned magic items. A bag of holding can hold a lot of scrolls!!

The scribe is a s tier for me, the drone termite atack is simply awesome

Kelly and Monty, I want to personally say - "Thank you"! Too both of you. Im brand new DM, and I learned so much from you're show! And as you like to say "You guys are AMAZING" :D Also congratulations with Drakkenheim on kickstarter! ;)

I’m really really liking these tier list videos, I really would love to see “best of the archetype” once you’re done with the subclasses. Best gish, best tank, best healer, etc

Thank you dudes for doing these series! They are exceptionally informative, entertaining, and accessible.

Yes! More wizards! I really love the content you guys put out and it has really helped me build my characters and the campaign I'm doing right now.

The multiple use of the word shenanigans raises the stock of this video exponentially.

Please DO make a video comparing all gishes in D&D! (Maybe even the multiclass possibilities?)

I've been waiting for this video for a couple weeks because I was looking forward on their commentary for the Bladesinger. I had a sudden (backup) character inspiration and a Swashbuckler Rogue/Bladesinger multi works best for the concept. These guys always help me to understand how to utilize a class to their potential, so I was super excited to see this posted today! Side note: My chiropractor recommended these guys to me. 10/10 guy, would get my back cracked there again lol

Gents, appreciate that you made this series of videos a while ago, but as someone who is about to play a wizard for the first time. I'm thoroughly enjoying them. You have a good rapport together and it is nice to see that when you disagree with each other, you can discuss your points and counter-points respectfully.

I think the dudes underestimate any Gish concepts. They did the same with the swords bard. They overvalue one time use high level spells, and undervalue the Gish ability to take mid tier spells and get a lot of prolonged use and damage each turn with them. Yes, the individual spells are stronger for one fight, but you wouldn’t use those in all the fights pre-boss. Not to mention the versatility and turn by turn utility that a Gish can use and still maintain combat prowess in long fights on bonus actions and reactions is understated in these videos. That’s why the community is not of the opinion that bladesingers are “just high AC”.

5:02 for fending off/escaping grapples it would be useful, also for acrobatic shenanigans mid combat, I love mid combat acrobatics so I can't not mention them.

I've been waiting on this video! Massively inspired to make a Bladesinger Wizard after watching this! Also, congratulations on your Drakkenheim book! Can't wait to snag it up.

Once you guys are done with your main Tier rankings for each class/subclass this way, I would love to see you guys do a Tier rankings for each subclass for it's Multi-class potential. You guys do great work, and it's always a pleasure to see what you come up with.

I found that song of defense for the bladesinger comes in very handy when those crits land. Makes your d6 health go a bit further in melee

Not the order I thought but still very happy to see it. Can't wait to c ur opinion on druid

I've been a DM for over 40 years and I still learn new things on your channel. Easily the most useful and informative channel on KZfaq.

Awesome video as usual! Super excited for your kickstarter book!

@Dungeon Dudes pulse wave is a 3rd level force damage spell, so force ball time! :D

While managing the Bladesinger's split stats can be a challenge, you may find an amulet of vigor or headband of intellect makes things A LOT easier.

Revisiting some of these videos as I'm playing my first bladesinger in my friends first campiagn as a DM. He's running lost mines of phandelver, which I've never played in, and I can't wait

Very good job guys for all your Subclass Tier Rankings vidée… Each of il, I love it. Thanks a lot.

Love my Order of the Scribes wizard. My DM doesn’t even know what he’s got into by letting my guy keep the money we found - my spell book has over 130 spells in it so far - just hit level 7.

You miss an important part about being a bladesinger. The cantrip + attack means things like bladeward becomes *very* useful. And the fact melee attack plus cantrip is such a flatrate damage without expending a spellslot which makes resource management much better. So for multiple combats in a dungeon where you will want to save your bladesong, you can still use bladeward + attack for a defensive stance or cantrip+attack to help clear a room fast... All without expending resources... Which in a dungeon crawl is vital! Plus having reaction of absorb elements and shield just in case.

Loved the bioshock reference in this. "Welcome to the circus of value!"

Thanks for these subclass vids on wizzard, now im going to try the Bladesinger!

I heard Bladesinger and a chill went up my spine, the "I want to play a Tolkien elf" OP class from AD&D.

It's honestly crazy that you guys make such quality content and aren't bigger. Legitimately some of the best DnD content I've seen!

Loving these subclass videos! I can’t wait for Sorcerer part 3 with reviews of Tashas subclasses!

I appreciate y’all pointing out all of those issues with bladesinger. I applaud that y’all pointed out 5-6(?) issues/problems/handicaps that this subclass. Found one I missed. Is it odd to anyone else that most other A-tier subclasses across all champions had 1-3ish issues that got pointed out, but this one - being so cool, so awesome, etc - gets a pass to A? Where including the “player trap” of the 10th lvl ability which normally drops things to D or C still maintains the A+? Hmm. Maybe there is something else that wasn’t discussed.

That art looks fantastic.

If you look at the spells in Explorers Guide to Wildemount, I'm pretty there is a 3rd level spell that deals force damage. It's the one that shoves a load of enemies using a conical blast.

When I read the Order of Scribes for the first time I just fell in love, the roleplay possibilities I saw, the fun elemental magic shenanigans and just the background had me hooked. As for why having a certain spell in your spell book that you'd never use, that's a roleplay choice. I'd play my OoS Wizard as a spell hoarder, learning ALL the spells they could get their hands on for a most comprehensive spell book with something for every occasion, even if those occasions would never manifest.

been waiting for this!!!! much excite

Order of Scribes: Shenanigans the subclass. I agree and love it.

So just imagine a level 17 Scribes Wizard with blade of disaster and Meteor Swarm now you have Force damage meteors or even at level 1 you can have a force damage chromatic orb I think just playing around with damage types intrigues me

Yes! been waiting to hear your thoughts on these

Both are great subclasses with really fun flavor to play as. I think the change to the scribe time adjustment makes it A+/S tier and would love to play either and could very well be top choices along with chronurgy/enchantment/divination wizards. Love the show and can’t wait to see book when it comes out!

Please Note: Shadow Blade does not work in conjunction with Booming Blade or Green-Flame Blade any longer due to the errata. Both cantrips require a weapon with a value of at least 1 silver piece. Shadow Blades are made of shadow and cannot be traded. They have no value.

"If we could do a ranking video on Gish characters" Yes. Please do that. I love Gishes.

Can't wait for the kickstarter 🧙🏾‍♂️

Glad to finally see this bladesinger has been my favorite class/subclass since it first came out

If a Wizard in my game took Order of the Scribe, I would occasionally destroy his spellbook just so they can reconstruct it

A huge, huge consideration for the Order of Scribes and the Awakened Spellbook's change of damage type. The wording states, "replace its damage type with a type that *appears* in another spell". Not inflicts. Appears. So even spells that mitigate damage types (ie Stoneskin) can fuel this.

thanks for reviewing in detail - - at least for me, the revised bladesinger is way more satisfying than the previous version. nice to see the updated version and helpful to learn your input and advice

Nice! Now waiting for part 5

Finally! Bladesinger!

The Tasha subclass videos are here. It's happening!

Great video! Thanks guys. Just out of curiosity, I quickly spun up a Bladesinger & a Hexblade on DnDBeyond. On paper at least, I'd agree that the Bladesinger has the edge. Now to compare with a Sorlock...

For shenanigans, I like using the prestedigitation clean/soil option to give people body odor

I love playing my Tortle Blade Singer, He gets CRAZY high AC!

I dont think the scribes wizards actually reduces the cost of scribing spells just the time.

I absolutely adore the OoS, so glade you finally did it

As someone who strongly prefers martial play styles, I've loved the Bladesinger for giving me tools I'm familiar with while trying to get used to managing components and spell slots. And even if it's not the strongest list of spells, I appreciate that the spells you listed (as well as others like False Life) have a class that makes them a little more viable.

i dont know enough to ever do a wizard so its just mono eldrich blasts for me, but I still really enjoy what you guys have to say :)

Bladesinger being Elf-only is a carry over from its inception in AD&D 2nd Edition.

witchbolt, darkvision, water walking, stoneskin, scrying, Drawmij's instant summons, dream of the blue veil, control weather, black blade of disaster... wonderful spells for the order of scribes (for chucking out of the book to stay alive)

YES! :D I've been waiting for these. I did already pick Chronurgy for this latest campaign but I'm still curious about these other two. My DM is pretty lenient I'm sure he'd be fine with changing it as subclass isn't super tied with my backstory and we've only had one session so far :D

17:42 Didn't it say that time of writing is turned from hours to minutes and it doesn't need ink?

Congratulations on your Kickstarter!! 😎👍

I have a gnome order of the scribes wizard. For the final boss of our first campaign I was able to hide in stalagmites and cast spells from my spell book on the other side of the boss room. It was amazing since the enemy didn't know where I was and couldn't dispel. Additionally the type change thing really enabled me to play a frost wizard without breaking anything. I would just have to take spells of the level that could also do cold damage (like spirit shroud and chromatic orb). Very fun and lots of flavor

i feel people treat the bladesinger as a wizard that can melee from time to time, instead of a melee character that can wizard. are you going to be more effective if you pop bladesong and just spam fireball? Yes, 100%, but at that point are you even playing a bladesinger?

Bladesinger just turned the wizard from a worm to a cocroach.

So excited for the Tasha rankings!

I think that the most consistently underrated feature of the Scribes wizard is easily the ability to cast a ritual with its normal casting time once per long rest. There are a handful of really useful rituals that have interesting, creative use cases, especially ones like Gentle Repose or Unseen Servant that only take an action to cast with a spell slot, that you can now cast as an action without spending a spell slot or having it prepared. It's certainly niche, but if you're clever, and especially if your DM is open to a little bit of shenanigans, you can get a _lot_ of mileage out of it. For example, one of the first things I did playing as a Scribes wizard was to use an Unseen Servant to pick up a big stick and stick it in the spokes of a bandit group's wagon wheel, and the resulting crash killed several and seriously injured more (thanks Nikki, you're an awesome DM ^^). I could also see using Gentle Repose to stop a necromancer from raising a key target, or being able to spin up Detect Magic almost instantly in a key moment is great - all without wasting your precious preparation or slots on them.

“Any character is going to be broken with three 18s” As the proud player of a 2nd level rogue with three 18s, I agree.

Love it guys! Though I’m reverse on your quandary. I think scribes might be S-tier, and bladesinger might be B. Singer get’s high AC sure, but nothing else helps you be exceptional at what you’re already good at; casting spells. While the scribes ability to find, cast, and survive long enough to cast that exceptional spell is unparalleled except by chronurgy. Great list though! Love the videos!

I'd love to see a video ranking all the A and S subclasses with each other!

I am so happy to see this, cause I'm playing a Bladesinger in a campaign, so it's cool to see how it's ranked. Though, I'll admit, I'm mostly playing my character as a damager dealer, kind of like a glass canon. He dual weilds and uses elemental spells, and has spells like Counterspell, dispell magic, haste, slow. But, since most elemental spells are saving throws and not attack rolls (aside from scorching ray and most elemental cantrips) then I don't have to worry bout being within 5ft of someone and having disadvantage on my attack.

I took a few levels of Battle Smith Artificer to get around the Bladesinger's issue of needing multiple ability scores, and it is amazing!

I think, what gets a little overlooked, is that song of defense doesn't need a specific source of damage, like attacks or spells. It could be used against fall damage, traps and other things like that. As long as you take damage, you can use this, which makes it pretty versatile.

Love your content. I'm following along with your original campaign in Drakkenheim and was wondering if you could make a Playlist for your other Drakkenheim based adventures on your KZfaq channel. Maybe I'm a noob, but it's harder to find "Shadows of" than it is "Dungeons of". Keep doing what you do.

Loved the video! The one thing that I will say is the downplaying of song of defense feature for bladesinger. As having played a bladesinger, the options you talked about (shield and absorb elements) are the bread and butter for reaction spells to save against damage, song of defense in my opinion has a very specific role. Crits. No matter how high your AC is, you should still have a wizards hp, and a crit will go through no matter what, and an ability that can knock off some of that damage can literally save your life.